High levels of MESP1 expression in non-small cell lung cancer can facilitate cell proliferation, metastasis and suppresses cell apoptosis

Background There are growing number of researches have shown that mesoderm posterior basic helix-loop helix (BHLH) transcription factor 1 (MESP1) plays a crucial role in the development of tumors. However, its expression pattern and function in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are still unknown. Methods MESP1 expression and biological process were investigated in NSCLC based on bioinformatics analysis. The mRNA or protein expression levels of MESP1 were measured by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and western blot (WB) assay in NSCLC cells and clinical tissue samples. Then, we used small interfering RNA (siRNA) interference to knocking down expression of gene in NSCLC cells. Cell proliferation was performed using cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), colony forming assay and real-time cell analyzer (RTCA); transwell chambers and RTCA were used to analysis cell migration and invasion. Besides, analyses of the cell cycle progression and apoptosis were measured via BD JAZZ flow cytometric analysis. All the experiments were repeated ≥3 times. And analyses were performed using SPSS software version 21.0 and GraphPad Prism 6.0. P